One of the great photo bloggers is Bruno, who covers mostly views of Venice. Just a couple of days ago he blogged about one of the most iconic views of Venice. He also gave some hints about how, when and where to take photographs.

Venice is packed with tourists, and it is hard to find a ‘quiet’ scene. When I was in Venice some years ago, I followed one of Bruno’s advice: be early.

Ponte di Rialto (Rialto Bridge) is one of the landmarks of Venice, most of the time packed with people. One morning around sunrise I decided to have an early walk and went to this bridge – and it was practically empty. The market stalls on both sides of the bridge were still closed. Only one lonely painter was sitting on the stairs, capturing the same scene as me.

8 Responses to Desolated Ponte di Rialto, Venice at 7am

When I was a child most photographs and movies were black and white, and I always imagined that life must be very sad and dreary in those places, especially where the buildings were old and the people poor. And then I travelled and discovered the rest of the planet was also in colour and it wasn’t sad and depressing and even decay can be attractive. You’ve taken me back to those days and made this place that I know so well and love, having lived there for a while, look decrepit, wet, cold and depressing. I know it isn’t, but… What was your reason for eschewing colour?

Why do I believe you? 🙂 I meant to add in my first comment that if I had to choose which photograph to hang on my wall, it would be yours rather than Bruno’s ‘iconic’ view, which I found somewhat sterile.

Thank you for checking out my picture! You are right, sterile indeed is that frame, but at the moment I’m trying to figuring how the world would be, if there was no human presence. I will try that a bit more, but colors are likely coming back in a while! 🙂

Don’t be too modest, brubio…the photograph has an almost preternatural beauty, and now I understand your intention, it makes perfect sense. How far will you go, I wonder. Without human presence, entropy would ensure such scenes will revert to the swamp from which they came.

Hi Olli, thank you so much for mentioning me! I’m really honored by your words. Venice is so inspiring but beeing appreciated makes me even more happy! Your picture is amazing, not only you can feel the stillness of the scene, but you also managed to add a human presence perfectly! 🙂 See you at the next sunrise! 😉